patrick.net

So, I was laid off my job after five years. Went to work at a healthcare facility owned by the same corporation, which touts itself as the largest healthcare provider of its type in the country. Many companies say this, because their definition of their type of healthcare is very narrow. But I digress.

I went to work, where I was supposed to report for orientation. Only the supervisor told me to wait for her, so I sat in the office for hours until she arrived. I was rescheduled to the next week, but saw patients anyway. I went to orientation my second week, which consisted of dry videos and the facilitator reading word for word out of the employee manual. They talked about customer service and good patient care - just words. They provided neither of these things.

EVERY DAY I called IT first thing to find out why my passwords didn't work, and sat on the phone for at least an hour. Then I was kicked off the system again later that afternoon, forcing me to call IT again the next morning. I got to know them well during the month that I worked there. The corporate VP actually wrote a memo removing me from the system, then sent an email to IT asking them to give me immediate access to the system. They told her she needed to submit a work order because she had me administratively removed, and it never happened.

The woman who was supposedly my supervisor was a horrible person. She was demeaning, had no clue as to what she was doing and walked around wielding her imaginary power to all who would listen. She was horrible to work with, mean to the patients, untrained, and sat there all day doing nothing. Except when she was out on the patient floors, where no one could find her. She didn't check phone messages even though there were calls being transferred to other phones in the office where no one sat. I listened to her being incredibly offensive to a healthcare provider, complained to management and they told me that the provider was unreasonable. They didn't address her nastiness. I should mention that she has one year's experience to my 30. When asked a question by a newly hired worker, she said, "Use your critical thinking skills." Bitch.

So I went to management and they told me she wasn't the supervisor, they just hadn't told her that yet. And that I would have to interview for the position whether or not I wanted to. But they told her that I was going to be the supervisor, which caused her to hide from me or be sickeningly sweet while she continued to screw shit up left & right. She continued to be mean to patients and coworkers, and I probably should have said something but by then I realized I was leaving. Fuck her - if corporate didn't care and management didn't care why should I?

Required assessments weren't being done at all, patient needs were ignored. When I asked any questions, I was told "we don't have to do that." The "that" to which they referred is a plan of care required in every healthcare setting. I guess they were above all that. The state inspectors gave the facility a failing grade several times, and I have no idea why they finally passed if they in fact did. The facility has a "one star" rating from Medicare - this from a company that considers itself a leader in the industry.

Meanwhile, HR decided I wasn't a transfer, I was a rehire. And they removed me from the payroll system altogether. Then they added me again, but didn't pay me for an entire month. I was told at one point to go home because I wasn't in the system, then the HR person denied she ever said that. I couldn't use the time clock, I couldn't use the documentation system, I kept being promised that Corporate would come out and help. Never happened in the month I was there. They did show up afterward, but the social work liaison for the company left crying is what I was told.

There were nurses screaming at each other in their offices, at nurse's stations, a 110 percent turnover in staff and some CNA's ran their asses off while others stole patient food and spent their time ignoring them. When I quit, several professional staff members told me that they knew I wouldn't last because I didn't have to work there and they never could keep the good social workers. It was crazy. I wouldn't allow my worst enemy to go there, having seen the care that they provide and knowing that this facility is little more than a paperwork mill subsidized by Medicare/Medicaid.

I'm now working for another TCU. It's busy, and it has its problems. But they provide good care, they're working out the bugs, and I'm not embarrassed to say that I work there. I've seen some shitty places, but the place I left nearly made me retire from healthcare altogether. Medicare needs to change its rating process - the place is still in business and it really shouldn't be.